Mike James should start at PG right now: who agrees?

RA Had 8 assists in the Lakers game so he's effective running the offense...yeah MJ should come off the bench

 

you know what, i actually dont mind if Mike James takes shots away from T-Mac. he shoots at a much higher clip anyways.

 

Name one shot that MJ forced in that Lakers game.

I know the cool thing to do around here to do is not watch basketball games then label players inappropriate names, but you're going to have to come at with me something better than the "sparkplug theory" if your goal is to convince me Rafer is more effective as a starter than MJ.

So what's your point? I thought the whole point was to convince me of the need to have a "pass first" PG out with the starting unit? Nevermind the fact that we've basically established that Rafer is a chucker in denial.

If a "pass first" PG is what RA desires in this offense then i'm curious to see if Rafer can fit the bill. I'm curious if we'll see Rafer do anything else besides walk the ball down the court, pass to Yao or T-Mac and chuck three pointers. I'm curious to see if he'll ever (even just once) drive or cut to the basket. I'm curious to see if that strategy will work before RA concedes and turns to his bench for two players that are clearly better.

 

Ummm... he had 8 assists.

 

The one thing i do not like about Rafer is his defense. As much as people said Rafer is a good defender...no way. LOok at the Lakers, under pressure...he left Fisher wide open for tying shot. Underpressure....he folded!!! And i think he's the one player that other team will look to exploit when they have great PG....such as how the Jazz did with Deron Williams and Fisher. I just think w/ James...they're not able to do that.

 

I was drunk last nit and rafer alston drop by and YELL to my face hes starting, BIATTCH!!!

 

Steve freaking Novak could rack up assists if T-Mac is coming off screens, catches and pulls up. Yao had a few baskets the same way.

It wasn't like Rafer was penetrating, breaking down defenses and dazzling us with playmaking skills. There were the the two fast breaks and the rest were all catch-and-shoots.

Not trying to take away from Rafer since 8 assists is nice on paper, but it is what it is. As is the 1/6 shooting performance and the late turnovers that almost cost us the game.

 

um in case you didn't notice, kobe was bringing the ball up. rafer did the right thing and doubled him. the most shocking part of the play was that kobe PASSED the ball.

 

why didnt MJ have 8 assists then? i remember one play he dribbled the ball until 6 seconds were left on the shot clock and he waved off t-mac. i like it when he waves off t-mac though. at least someone out there is trying to be a leader.

 

I "wave" goodbye to this thread. At least you Mike James haters are using your imagination. In my imagination Rafer drives to the basket at will and hits 40% of his 3-pt attempts.

 

I think you may be confused with the discussion here. The debate is whether we should start Mike James. It is not "Who's a better player?" I agree that:

1) Mike James is a superior player.
2) Rafer is not a great starting point guard.

However, given what the team needs at this point, Rafer is a BETTER MATCH than Mike James, and therefore is our starting PG.

 

i am not a mike james hater. i LOVE mike james. it's just obvious the TEAM is better when rafer starts and james comes off the bench. why do you think avery johnson starts Devin Harris and makes Jason Terry come off the bench?

 

Agree with you here. Let's stick to the issue at hand. As a person who definitely thinks MJ>>Rafer, I say let Rafer start as long as he isn't killing us. When the offense sputters and dies, bring MJ in early; if not, wait a while. Manage Rafer's minutes according to how he is playing. Same for MJ. Adelman should go with the "hot" hand (hot as in who is helping the team more).

I also think as Scola gets more playing time and hopefully replaces Chuck as the starter, that could allow Rafer to remain the starting PG. At least we would be playing 4 vs 5 on offense instead of 3 vs 5.

Regarding defense, how can anyone not see that MJ is a lot better than Rafer? Both guys get steals and occasionally pick the pocket of the opposing PG. The difference is MJ is a lot stronger & physical and just makes life harder for the opposing player. Rafer is very soft and avoids contact at all cost. Opposing PGs know that and it's easy for them to free stroke their shots. MJ will bump them and do little things that throw players off. When teams deliberately target, attack and torch Rafer at the beginning of games, that's another reason he should be pulled early for MJ.

 

What the hell did rafer do that was so positive yesterday? His costly turnovers in crunch time? He did nothing that spectacular yesterday and he had bad tunrovers.

The only positive is that he took less shots than yesterday

 

and what has francis done that is positive since joining the rockets?

 

He hasnt committed tunrovers in big-time situations. Why cant he play for 10 minutes? Rafer didnt contribute much yesterday

 

lol... so you don't think Mike James is a shoot first player... lol someone is in denial. Mike James might have not force any shots tonight, but he has in the preseason, he's just lucky they fall or clutchfans would be all over his ass. Rafer is starting for a reason, and fine it's your opinion that James should start. However if Rafer is starting, there's a reason. Not only JVG but apparently Rick believe so too. If he's starting there's a reason.

Is Rafer starting because he's better than James? Hell no. That leaves me to the conclusion that Rick likes James coming off the bench as the spark plug.

Rafer tries to set up the offense before anything else. I still don't see how you think Rafer is a chucker. He was told to take those shots by JVG. So how does that make him a chucker? He was mostly always open on the threes that he shot last year. It just didn't fall for him, Rafer is more of pass first point guard then Mikes James or Steve Francis will ever be.

"I "wave" goodbye to this thread. At least you Mike James haters are using your imagination. In my imagination Rafer drives to the basket at will and hits 40% of his 3-pt attempts."

You won't be missed.

 

How about Mike James missing all four free throws - especially two really important ones? The missed free throws could have also cost us the game. You claim we're "Mike James hater" when the ironic thing is you're the one who's hating on Rafer.

Whatever. RA has Rafer starting so that's the end of this little discussion.

 

my imaginary rafer passes the ball to yao and tmac, mike james can pass the ball to mcgrady off a curl, except for every time he makes one of those passes he'll take 4-5 shots before he does

 

there is a reason why francis cant even play for 10 minutes.